WestJet announces service to London Gatwick

Airline selects first transatlantic wide-body destination

CALGARY, June 16, 2015 /CNW/ - WestJet today announced it has selected London, England as the first transatlantic destination from Canada for its wide-body Boeing 767-300 aircraft. Service from Canada to London will be through London Gatwick.

"This news marks the next phase in the international portion of our strategic plan," said Bob Cummings, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Commercial. "WestJet is at the right scale to make this step in our evolution. Combined with our low-cost approach and renowned people-driven service, we have the network, brand and infrastructure to successfully enter and grow in the wide-body market. We look forward to announcing, later this summer, our entire schedule and low-fare approach for the spring of 2016."

"Well-managed and efficient airports like Gatwick are ideal for low-cost airlines like WestJet," said Chris Avery, WestJet Vice-President, Network Planning, Alliances and Corporate Development. "We love Gatwick as a convenient airport with great connectivity to central London and access to other low-cost airlines flying to points in Europe and beyond. We look forward to welcoming travellers from Gatwick through our network to destinations across Canada."

"Wide-body capability now allows us to serve London Gatwick from anywhere in Canada and brings into consideration more international destinations in the future. The Canadian cities we will fly from will be determined over the course of this summer," continued Bob Cummings. "We will meet with airports across the country to determine the most suitable ones we believe will meet our needs and those of our guests."

Further announcements on schedules, pricing and launch cities will be communicated later this summer with service commencing in spring 2016.

About WestJet
We are proud to be Canada's most-preferred airline, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to more than 90 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 120 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  ̶  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.  

Recent recognition includes:
2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)
2014 Interbrand Canada's Best Canadian Brands (Rank #20)
2014 Brands of the Year (Strategy magazine)
2014 Canada's Most Preferred Airline (Ipsos)
2014 Value Airline of the Year (Air Transport World magazine)
2014/2013/2012 Canada's Most Attractive Employer (Randstad)
2014/2013 WestJet RBC MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (Money Sense magazine and RewardsCanada.ca) 
2014/2013/2012/2011 Highest equity score: airline, vacation package supplier brands (Harris/Decima EquiTrend Study)

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SOURCE WestJet

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